Common Name: Arizona baccharis Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Subshrub General: Openly branched, slightly resinous shrub, 1-2 m tall; stems erect to ascending, slender, striate-angled. Leaves: Alternate, sessile, and usually present while the plant is flowering; blades linear-lanceolate to narrowly oblong with a cuneate base, 2-4 cm long, 4-8 mm wide at the broadest point, which is usually above middle, the margins evenly serrate with fine spinulose teeth, and the surfaces finely gland-dotted but not resinous. Flowers: Flower heads unisexual, discoid, arranged in terminal, compact, rounded panicles of 10-50 heads; involucre (the ring of bracts surrounding the flower head) campanulate, 3-6 mm, the bracts (phyllaries) lanceolate, 1-5 mm, graduated and imbricate in 4-6 series, green in the center with scarious margins; florets 2-3 mm, the corollas whitish (pistillate) to yellowish (staminate). Fruits: Achenes 2 mm long, 5-nerved, glabrous, with a pappus of bristles, 4-6 mm. Ecology: Found on rocky slopes, often in canyons, in the oak-pine belt from 4,000-8,000 ft (1219-2438 m); flowers August-November. Distribution: AZ, NM; south to c MEX Notes: Baccharis is a genus of shrubs with gland-dotted leaves; unisexual, discoid flower heads, with male and female flower heads on separate plants; and tufts of bristles (pappus) attached to the tops of the seed. B. thesioides is distinguished by its erect stems; narrow, oblong and evenly serrate leaves with finely spinulose teeth; flower heads in small rounded arrays; and 5-ribbed achenes. Can be confused with B. bigelovii but that species has broader and irregularly serrate leaves. B. thesioides has been described as a scaled-down version of B. salicifolia, at only about 1 m tall, with the flowers in smaller denser clusters, and narrower leaves with shaper, more distinct teeth on the margins. Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genus have uses. Etymology: Baccharis is named for Bacchus, the god of wine, while thesioides means like the genus Thesium. Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley 2010, AHazelton 2015